New Girl star Zooey Deschanel has claimed that it "took a lot of bravery" for her to dress up in bondage gear for the Fox show.

The actress admitted that the scene where Jess and her boyfriend Paul (Justin Long) attempt to spice up their love life was "hard" for her to deal with, as she is not completely comfortable showing skin.

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"I'm not saying it's not hard for anybody else but I like to be covered from head to toe most of the time," she told Entertainment Weekly. "If I had my druthers, I would be completely like in a turtle neck or pants or floor length skirt all the time.

"So to be in an S&M style outfit doing that took a lot of my own bravery. I think part of being an actor is realising you have to do stuff that is hard for you to do. Some people just like being naked or have no problem with that. I am not one of those people."

Deschanel added that although the scene became "stranger and weirder" than she first thought, it was at least a good way of promoting her character's positive points.

"It was one of those scenes that was really funny on the page and when we shot it, evolved into a stranger and weirder scene than I had even imagined," she told Entertainment Weekly.

"One of the things I like about the character is she's very optimistic. She's awkward, but she's not afraid to try things... I think this is a prime example [of] what makes her a good comedic heroine. She goes full force and does this thing."